Romans 1

Greeting

1 Paul, a servantt of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,3 concerning his Son, who was descended from Davidt according to the flesh4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Longing to Go to Rome

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.13 I want you to know, brothers,t that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians,t both to the wise and to the foolish.15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith,t as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."t

God's Wrath on Unrighteousness

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Romans 1

Salutation

1 From Paul,t a slavets of Christ Jesus,s called to be an apostle,t set apart for the gospel of God.t2 This gospelt he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,3 concerning his Son who was a descendantt of David with reference to the flesh,t4 who was appointed the Son-of-God-in-powers according to the Holy Spiritt by the resurrectiont from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.5 Through himt we have received grace and our apostleshipt to bring about the obediencet of faitht among all the Gentiles on behalf of his name.6 You also are among them,t called to belong to Jesus Christ.t

7 To all those loved by God in Rome,s called to be saints:t Grace and peace to yout from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Paul’s Desire to Visit Rome

8 First of all,t I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world.9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit by preaching the gospelt of his Son, is my witness thatt I continually remember you10 and I always askt in my prayers, if perhaps now at last I may succeed in visiting you according to the will of God.t11 For I long to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gifts to strengthen you,12 that is, that we may be mutually comforted by one another’s faith,t both yours and mine.13 I do not want you to be unaware,s brothers and sisters,t that I often intended to come to you (and was prevented until now), so that I may have some fruit even among you, just as I already have among the rest of the Gentiles.t14 I am a debtort both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

15 Thus I am eagert also to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome.s

The Power of the Gospel

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.s

17 For the righteousnesst of God is revealed in the gospelt from faith to faith,t just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will live.”s

The Condemnation of the Unrighteous

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of peoplet who suppress the truth by theirt unrighteousness,t19 because what can be known about God is plain to them,t because God has made it plain to them.20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So peoplet are without excuse.21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless heartst were darkened.22 Although they claimedt to be wise, they became fools

23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beingst or birds or four-footed animalss or reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them overs in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonort their bodies among themselves.t

25 Theyt exchanged the truth of God for a liet and worshiped and served the creationt rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones,t

27 and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with woment and were inflamed in their passionst for one another. Ment committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God,t God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.t29 They are filledt with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife witht envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips,30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents,31 senseless, covenant-breakers,t heartless, ruthless.

32 Although they fully knowt God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die,t they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.s